A powerful ghost story about transformative healing. I could not put it down. Beautiful.
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour, (List Price: $11.99, Rocky Pond Books, 9780593108994, January 2022)
Reviewed by Abbe Townsend, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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This is an absolutely promising and thought-provoking thriller debut that questions numerous sensitive issues, including racism, underage sex, teenage pregnancy, corruption, white privilege, and child abuse.
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill, (List Price: $12.99, Ember, 9780593568576, December 2023)
Reviewed by Michelle Weiler, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Daniel Wallace’s newest work is a combination memoir and biography, telling his own story alongside that of friend and brother-in-law, William Nealy. This Isn’t Going To End Well begins in 1970s Alabama capturing llaissez-faire parenting, and the idleness and creativity of childhood at the time. Fast forward to our beloved Chapel Hill, the book moves from adolescence to adulthood, asking the question: How well do we ever really know someone? Wallace makes you feel like you are sitting with an old friend, reminiscing. The people rattle around in your head, and the writing is clean and clever. An especially great read for outdoor enthusiasts and artists, writers and lovers. Wallace has written a story of family, adventure, following your dreams, and sadly, tragedy. This Isn’t Going To End Well is gentle and kind, even when life is not.
This Isn’t Going to End Well by Daniel Wallace, (List Price: $28, Algonquin Books, 9781643752105, April 2023)
Reviewed by Peggy Mulqueen, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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A beautifully written, immediately engaging book about exploring a new area of the Antarctic, experiencing climate change on a vast yet immediate scale, and still deciding to bring a child into the world. The author pulls from her experiences as an observer on an exploration vessel to chart a path into the future. Excerpts from her interviews with others aboard the ship – scientists, but also the crew and even the ship’s cooks – bring multiple perspectives into her musings on everything from the breaking ice to birth stories. While the themes of the book are urgent, the messages are hopeful: while there is work for everyone, together, we can accomplish more; and when we mess up, which we all do, own the error and don’t make the same mistake again.
The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush, (List Price: 30, Milkweed Editions, 9781571313966, August 2023)
Reviewed by Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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A hilarious read that had me giggling with every page!
Poor bug has quite the day dodging one creature after another. Just when you think bug is safe- WHAM they find themselves in another pickle.
The repeating phrase and rhyming words are sure to make this a fun read aloud for children of all ages. It is sure to be a story time favorite.
Snug as a bug indeed!
Snug as a Bug? by Karl Newson, (List Price: 18.99, Happy Yak, 9780711274860, June 2023)
Reviewed by Michelle Weiler, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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I watched this anime several years ago, and I have to say they did an excellent job adapting the manga. I don’t know why I enjoy it so much — the love interest is incredibly toxic, and the main character is a total mess, yet I find myself rooting for them anyway.
Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Vol. 1 by Ayuko Hatta, (List Price: $9.99, VIZ Media LLC, 9781974737529, May 2023)
Reviewed by Amber Brown, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Gareth Inglis, unwanted child turned dismissed law clerk, unexpectedly inherits his absent father’s title and country estate. Tench House is situated in Romney Marsh, a remote wetland not-so-secretly controlled by smuggling gangs. Much to Gareth’s surprise, his local area is under the control of the Doomsday clan, led by none other than his one-time lover.Joss Doomsday is confident, charming, and eminently reasonable – and on the Marsh, his word is as good as law. But he is eager to avoid Gareth, who once spurned him in a fit of melancholy. At least until Gareth unwittingly puts his sister’s freedom at stake. As the dust of this treacherous first encounter settles and the two form an unlikely partnership, peril encroaches on them from all sides. The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is an adventurous Regency romance populated by swashbuckling smugglers as well as prickly high society. It is also somewhat of a naturalist’s book; Gareth’s explorations out on the Marsh taught me a surprising amount about the great diving beetle. There are stolen fortunes, dangerous missions under cover of night, a lady scandalously wearing trousers, and murders to boot. But the real heart of the book lies in healing trauma and finding love (in partners as well as family). Gareth and Joss are shaped by their experiences, by their relationship to one another, and the end of the book finds them better situated for happiness than they’ve ever been before.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles, (List Price: 16.99, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 9781728255859, March 2023)
Reviewed by Kaley Lowman, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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British author Katherine May knows exactly what I need when I need it. I read her book, Wintering, during the hardest days of the pandemic. She wrote of a time in her life, pre-pandemic, when she felt hopeless, but her words resonated with my feelings of despair during the isolation of 2020. Her newest book, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, is just as timely. Though very personal, she addresses the universality of our shock at the fallout from the pandemic and how we can recover some of our contentment and joy. The book is beautifully written, and there are many lines that will linger with me.
Enchantment by Katherine May, (List Price: $26, Riverhead Books, 9780593329993, February 2023)
Reviewed by Mamie Potter, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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A January 2023 Read This Next! Title
Romantic love, familial love, and the love of place play out against the background of late 1950s – early 1960s civil rights era. After the loss of her last family member, Alice flees her former home and the overt racial and sexualized violence by the landowner. She disembarks by chance in an entirely Black town – and what is meant to be a brief stop on her way north becomes a new home. New Jessup rose back up from the swamp and from the ashes of a white race riot, and the town carefully maintains a very public anti-integration stance to protect itself from attention from the white side of town. When Alice falls for the son of a town founder, she slowly learns that her Raymond been involved in the civil rights actions in Montgomery – and his affiliation with a group that works towards desegregation elsewhere creates tensions within their love story. A beautifully written exploration of just some of the variety of opinions within the civil rights era Black community on freedom, equality, and safety.
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks (List Price: $28, Algonquin Books, 9781643752464, January 2023)
Reviewed by Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Moon Fuentez is a fascinating character. I liked the exploration of the psychological effects of pitting two children against each other in a family. This is a book about resilience through a lifetime of pain. It’s sex-positive. It’s a really original story. Moon’s humor carries a lot of the story and keeps it from feeling too dark.
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, (List Price: $12.99, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 9781534448674, August 2022)
Reviewed by Lizzy Nanney, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Beautiful at the sentence level, Pollard’s Delphi deftly captured the weird, stagnant time of the early covid-19 pandemic through the first year. Her depiction of the strangeness of everyday life is lovely: the fear but especially the monotony. The main character had been researching divination methods of the ancient world prior to the pandemic; various forms of divination, ancient and modern, frame the short chapters. The methods are sometimes directly discussed or even used by the character to gain some semblance of control, but at other times, the chapter header appears only in an oblique nod: a flight of birds, a television unwatched. Taking a wider lens, the story is largely interior and for large stretches very little happens (though in an interesting way). The main character, her husband, and her son tackle isolation and conflict and the pressure to just go along with extended family’s risk assessments (whether stricter or looser); they take risks to connect with friends and coworkers that often turn out fine. There’s a flurry of the high-stakes plot near the end – even foreshadowed, the introduction of the conflict felt rather sudden, and the resolution arrived so abruptly that I turned the page expecting a denouement to find the acknowledgments page instead. But I’m sure I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.
Delphi by Clare Pollard, (List Price: $26.00, Avid Reader Press, 9781982197896, August 2022)
Reviewed by Ginger Kautz, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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This was a fabulous debut! The main character was obnoxious but in an eventually relatable way that you come to love by the end. She’s a strong woman who makes good decisions for herself. The supporting characters were charming. The college campus setting was really inviting. But the greatest thing was the references. SO MANY GOOD REFERENCES! When one of the characters goes to the hospital and is in Room 616 I had to stop reading for a minute because it was just too good.
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez, (List Price: $17.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780063114302, August 2022)
Reviewed by Lizzy Nanney, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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I was enthralled with the impeccable voice of Zinnia in the follow-up to A Spindle Splintered. Harrow’s incredible knowledge of fairy tales really shines through in this installment, without removing the reader from the narrative. I’m happy to put my hands on anything Harrow writes — she is a new favorite!
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow (List Price: $18.99, Tordotcom, 9781250766649, June 2022)
Reviewed by Amber Brown, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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Ahmed masterfully weaves together so many difficult topics that it’s hard to say what this book is about in any concise way. It’s painful, it’s beautiful, it’s haunting. It shines a light on horrific topics with sensitivity and grace and does so through the lens of two characters that are some of the most realistic I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Safiya didn’t really know Jawad, and she still felt the pain of his loss deeply. Upon finishing this book, I too feel his loss as if I knew him. I cannot remember ever reading a book so impactful, so relevant, and so emotionally gripping. If I had my way, everyone would read this book
Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed, (List Price: $18.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316282642, May 2022)
Reviewed by tee arnold, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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THIS. IS. A. WILD. RIDE! Everyone is obsessed with Shara Wheeler. Everyone except Chloe Green. Okay, maybe Chloe Green is obsessed with her too, but totally not in the way that you think. What starts out as a fun adventure to find the missing golden girl turns into a neurotic hunt with a healthy dose of discovering queer identities and finding supportive friendships in the unlikeliest of places. Come for the intrigue, stay for the flourishing community of misfits.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (List Price: $19.99, Wednesday Books, 9781250244451, May 2022)
Reviewed by Tee Arnold, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
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